The State of War in Iran Demonstrates Need for Freedom of the Press

Since the beginning of the Iran War, the Trump Administration has been clear in its view that news organizations have an obligation to report developments as characterized by governmental officials. It’s part of what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said is the duty of a “patriotic press.”  President Donald Trump’s frequent attacks on media for stories questioning the progress of the war, framed as “Fake News” by  “Corrupt Media Outlets” that hate America, reflect his contempt for a free and independent press as well as reporting of  facts that undermine his narrative that the war is going “very well.”

President Trump, as readers know, has engaged in an unrelenting campaign against media organizations since his first term in office. He has called reporters “human scum,” and attacked the press in general as “enemies of the people,” typical tripe uttered by other authoritarian leaders who despise  freedom of the press.  A free press, after all, is the worst nightmare for an authoritarian leader who fears scrutiny, investigation and, most of all, factual reporting.  Yet, freedom of the press is essential to the rights and liberties of citizens in a constitutional democracy.

President Trump’s increasingly intemperate criticisms of the press, however, have reached a fever pitch. In a Truth Social Post on May 13, Trump accused media outlets of committing “treason” for reports that Iran is doing well, militarily, against the United States and Israel.  The administration’s portrayal of a decimated Iranian military is belied by what Trump’s own intelligence agencies have told policymakers behind closed doors. According to classified assessments, Iran has regained access to most of its missile sites, launchers and underground facilities. Apparently, Iran has restored operational access to 30 of the 33 missile sites it maintains along the Strait of Hormuz, which it could use to threaten American warships and oil tankers transiting the waterway. Iran also has features 70 percent of its mobile launchers across the country and 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile.

These intelligence reports are not at all consistent with the characterizations of Iran’s military standing from Trump officials who have said that Iran is “no longer a threat” because its military has been “decimated.” And let’s be clear about the administration’s blatant misrepresentation of the state of the war. Trump and Hegseth are informed about the trajectory of the war by the same intelligence agencies that have informed policymakers behind closed doors. They are not independent observers or collectors of information about the status of war by means beyond reports from the intelligence agencies. This means, of course, that they are choosing to offer a false narrative, one that is not commensurate with the facts on the ground.

American citizens, indeed, the very taxpayers who are footing the bill for Trump’s war of choice, now listed at $29 billion and climbing, are rightly distressed about the administration’s portrayal of the war. Recent polls show that 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s war. And why not? At a moment when gasoline prices have skyrocketed and food prices are rising daily, and inflation increased nearly four percent in April, American families are coming to grips with the fact that Trump’s unilateral decision to initiate war against Iran has come at a very high cost. The end of the war is not in sight and economic conditions will continue to worsen.

When Congress in 1789 drafted the First Amendment, with a special emphasis on the importance of freedom of the press, members did so because they knew that the citizenry required news gathered and reported, by a free and independent press. History was fraught with episodes of governmental censorship. A people who intended to govern themselves by being active participants in the newly minted republic could not be reduced to dependence on governmental officials eager to spin a false narrative to control public opinion. This remains particularly true about the course of events in wartime. At this juncture, when there is no clear exit strategy from the war in Iran, press reports built on facts, including those supplied by US intelligence agencies, are more important than ever. The reports are a critical way for the electorate to hold governmental officials accountable for their actions and their growing list of misrepresentations.